Surfboard-Kelly Patent T-Shirt

$22.00

See The Story of this design in tab, below.

PatentWear’s original Surfboard-Kelly design is printed in full color on a heavyweight 6-ounce pre-shrunk 100% cotton men’s/unisex t-shirt using an eco-friendly water-based ink process, in shirt colors as indicated. The large design is printed on the front only. Some element colors in the design change slightly depending upon whether it is printed on a dark or light shirt.

The Story

John Kelly, a hard core surfer and iconic waterman, gave back as much as he received from his years of surfing, and in so many ways, was far ahead of his time.

In 1937, frustrated with the inability of the big redwood plank boards to cut across a wave, he narrowed the tail with an ax and created the first prototypical big wave gun. This gave the board maneuverability and directional stability, and overcame the “slide ass” problem common with the big wide boards then. The result was a new design called the “Hot Curl,” a development credited as the start of big-wave surfing. In 1947, Kelly was one of the first surfers to ride Makaha, the site in Hawaii on Oahu of some of big-wave surfing’s most influential moments.

Later, Kelly’s hydroplane surfboard, patented in 1963, combined the speed of a longboard and the maneuverability of a shortboard in its slightly raised tail section.

In 1965, John Kelly authored the classic Surf and Sea, which covered nearly every aspect of surfing and was decades ahead of its time in comprehensive perspective. Inventor, activist, humanitarian, artist, and teacher—John Kelly was all of those, but above it all, a surfer.

Sizing & Fit: Unisex T-Shirt

A typical heavyweight 6-ounce 100% cotton men’s/unisex t-shirt (except for heather colors, which contain 10% polyester), pre-shrunk to make sure your size is maintained throughout multiple washings, and a classic fit style, meaning it is not form-fitted at the sides.

Fit type: Classic. Primary brand: Gildan

100% jersey knit

6 oz. fabric weight

Pre-shrunk

Seamless, double-needle ⅞” collar

Taped neck and shoulders

Classic fit

If you’re unsure about sizing, the best way to determine a correct size is to grab an existing favorite t-shirt, lay it flat, and then measure it.

To get the chest size, measure from armpit to armpit. To get the length, measure from neck/shoulder corner intersection to bottom of hem (see illustration). Double the garment width to determine the chest circumference measurement, and you’ll find it will generally fit.